Moments of peace
by Trainalf
Summary: Even as they moved on, those events found a way to stay with them. Satomi two-shot set in the same universe as 'December'.
1. Chapter 1

XX A/N XX

So a while back, I wrote a fic called December (if you're not familiar with it, this two shot might not make sense to you), and hinted numerous times at a sequel to it that would be an AU of Blood Drive. That was over a year ago. The idea isn't dead, I'm just having a hard time planning it and finding a suitable ending. As much as I want, I can't just write 'They punched the midget, went home, and lived happily ever after.' There's so many other characters and outside factors that it's almost entirely out of the main cast's hands, so I'm hard pressed to make it any different to the actual installment.

Why did I write this then? I just really wanted to write more fluff and show the idea isn't dead. The Satomi aspect is the only part of the sequel I ain't having trouble with.

X January 6th 2009 X

"A…sleepover?" Satoshi repeated, unsure and maybe a little flustered by the idea. Across the kitchen table covered in school books and notes, Naomi went a bit red at his answer.

"Yeah, a sleepover." She repeated. "You do know what those are, right?"

"Yeah…I'm just wondering why you're suggesting it." Satoshi answered, honestly surprised his girlfriend had suggested something like that out of nowhere. Naomi's face went a deeper shade of red.

"You're an idiot." She mumbled. It wasn't an insult, but more of a good natured jab. The old Naomi had been full of them whenever Satoshi had one of his clumsy or clueless moments, and the old Naomi was slowly but surely returning.

He couldn't be happier about it.

"Eh?" Satoshi sighed.

"I want to spend more time with you and you're wondering why." She sighed. "I just thought it'd be nice to hang out without school between us." She motioned to the materials on the table in front of them. Aside from maybe a break to go out and eat, the past few days had been nothing but studying to help Naomi catch up in school from how far she'd fallen behind, and they only had a few days left before it started again.

"Oh." Satoshi realized. It really hadn't mattered to him; just being with her was enough. But it was easy to see how stressed and bored she became going over the material. "I guess it would be."

"Mhm." Naomi nodded, smiling now that he got it. "Plus, you've been over to my house so much. I want to visit yours sometime and meet your mom."

That particular idea made Satoshi sweat a little. Most days, he'd head over to Naomi's house or they'd go somewhere nearby as a matter of practicality; Naomi still hadn't completely physically recovered and Satoshi didn't want to risk anything. But if he was honest with himself, maybe he was a little embarrassed about his parents and fearful of what they'd do if he brought a girl to the house.

"I wouldn't mind seeing Yuka again, either." Satoshi's little sister had come with him to see Naomi a few times, but had stopped when she realized the older teens spent nearly the whole time on school work. "I know she'd like it if I came over."

"Yeah… I guess she would." He admitted, knowing that it really would be good for Yuka if she had another person who knew what she'd gone through to spend time with. It wasn't that Satoshi wasn't already there for his sister, but given the…'personal' nature of her own scars, it was probably better that she had another girl as company in her healing.

"So?" She asked.

"What?"

"Yes or no?" She clarified.

"Yes or…" Satoshi rubbed the back of his head. "I'm not sure we could do something like that, Naomi." He admitted. "Our parents would kind of have to agree on it." He was sure that was impossible. He was amazed Naomi's mother even let him come over to the house since she had to work so it was always just Naomi and him there alone, but even the leeway she was giving him because he was helping her daughter heal wouldn't go that far, he was sure. His own parents… He honestly had no idea, but asking them something like that seemed akin to a nightmare.

"My mom will agree." Naomi stated with certainty. "I already asked her about it."

"You…did?" Satoshi asked, dumbfounded. "She did?"

"…She did." Naomi confirmed. Her face took on a red tint, and it looked like she was trying to keep her head up. "So you just have to ask your parents."

"Uhh…" The nightmare analogy came back to him. "I guess I could…" It was not something he looked forward to. But if Naomi wanted it…well, why not? It would be nice to spend more time together. "Okay, I'll ask them." He promised. Naomi smiled, a smile beautiful enough to make him blush.

"Thanks, Satoshi."

Later that evening though, the fact that saying and doing are two very different things came crashing down. How did one, a teenage boy especially, phrase the question "Can my girlfriend stay overnight?" without sounding suspect? Even though such a thing was very far from his mind (honesty, it was), his parents didn't know that, so he had to phrase it in a different way. After a lot of thought though, Satoshi realized they wasn't any way.

So he cheated.

"A sleepover?" Yuka asked, eyes already lighting up in excitement.

"Yeah, she wants to spend the night here." Satoshi explained. If Yuka asked it for it instead, it wouldn't sound as suspicious. Plus, since Yuka was spoiled, it increased the chances of getting a yes answer. "She could sleep in your room and you guys could stay up all night talking."

"Okay!" Yuka agreed quickly before the light dimmed from her eyes and a embarrassed flush came over her face. "Uhh…Does it have to be in my room?" She asked, hand grasping at the front of the skirt she was wearing.

"Huh? Oh…" Satoshi realized what her sudden reluctance was about. Naomi didn't actually know of the problem Yuka had developed since they got back. Dealing with it during the night was something Yuka had so far been unsuccessful in. "It'll be fine, Yuka. You know Naomi's not a mean person."

"You're right, Big Brother." Yuka nodded, regaining some of her former pep. "Have you asked momma yet?"

"Uh…I was actually hoping you would." Satoshi answered sheepishly. "It might seem weird if I ask."

"Why?" Yuka's innocent little heart was genuinely confused.

"Just…because." Satoshi said vaguely. "If you want Naomi to come over, will you do it?"

"Okay!" Clearly getting to see the other girl again was enough to get her to agree. Satoshi thought he'd been pretty clever. Until Yuka actually asked over dinner.

"Oh right, her mother did call saying she wanted to spend the night." Their mom revealed when Yuka brought it up. "I was waiting for Satoshi to mention it." There was a knowing smirk in her expression as she stared at her son. "But I think it's a nice idea. I really want to meet her."

"So she can stay over?" Yuka asked.

"Of course." Their mother agreed, and just like that it was decided: There would be a sleepover. Satoshi wasn't sure whether to be excited or terrified. He texted Naomi the news that night, and the stage was set for tomorrow.

The first half of the day wasn't all that different from the last few. He went over the Naomi's house and they worked on their school stuff for another few hours. They were a lot quieter though, not talking as much as they usually did. Things wrapped up early as well, with Naomi saying she'd pack her things and her mother would drop her off later that evening.

Sitting at home waiting was excruciating. Part of that was worrying what his mother would say or do once Naomi got here. But, now that he'd thought about it, just having a girl over was something to be nervous about even if there was no…'intentions', so he spent some of the time cleaning his room. He was doing that when the downstairs doorbell rang.

When he headed downstairs, he found four people in the living room: His mom, Naomi's mom, Naomi herself, and Yuka. The two adults were standing near the doorway chatting. The younger girls were greeting each other with a hug.

"Satoshi." Naomi spotted him and went over to give him a hug too, even though they'd seen each other just earlier.

"Naomi." He returned the hug after a moment, a little embarrassed from the fact they're mothers were still in the room. Considering the woman's protective streak, he expected Ms. Nakashima to say something to the two before leaving. But she didn't. She shared a conversation with Satoshi and Yuka's mom none of the teens could here and then she left.

"Satoshi." His mother turned to him as soon as Ms. Nakashima had left. "Aren't you going to get her bag?" Naomi had brought a small overnight bag which she'd set on the couch.

"Oh…Yeah." Satoshi answered, grabbing it and heading upstairs while Naomi gave him an embarrassed smile. It did give him some time to think though about what to do for the evening, since Naomi had said part of her reason for suggesting this was because she wanted to spend more time with Yuka and him.

Unexpectedly, the teens didn't actually spend that much of the evening together.

Naomi's first thirty minutes in the house was spent being led around by Yuka. The youngest Mochida was eager to show her around the house and especially her own room. Satoshi kept to the back, but Naomi seemed genuinely interested as Yuka showed her her stuffed animal collection.

After that, Satoshi's mother got a word in and her and Naomi ended up talking not only through preparation and dinner itself, but even afterwards. His father came home during this time, but other than a brief greeting didn't speak to Naomi.

The first part of it was mostly his mother asking Naomi about herself and how long she'd known Satoshi. Although eventually it got to a point Naomi was sharing how much of a klutz her son could be at school, and before Satoshi knew it they were swapping tales about him either being clumsy or sweet and selfless he could be. Both were equally embarrassing.

The only time the two actually spent together was with Yuka later that night, right before bed after they'd all changed into their pajamas. Even then, it was mostly the girls talking, with Yuka asking Naomi about how she'd been and how her new kitten was. But he really enjoyed just the three of them together.

Satoshi could actually see what Naomi had meant earlier. They'd resolved after last month to try and live their lives as normally as possible. But maybe they'd been trying too hard the past few days to get everything back on track with all the studying.

Once Shinozaki started coming back to school, maybe they should organize for all five of them to do something together. Getting their lives in order was important, but so was being happy. They needed to find more moments like this, good times to enjoy.

But this good time came to an end before too long. They still had a sleep schedule to maintain for when school started back up again, and their parents weren't going to let the three stay up unsupervised. So, after goodnights were exchanged, they three went to lay down. For reasons that were obvious as well as awkward, it was insisted the doors to both Satoshi and Yuka's rooms stay open throughout the night. It didn't bother any of them though, so they tried to get to sleep best they could.

The thing about the night is it left you alone and often awake with your thoughts. And when there was nothing to distract you, you inevitably started to think of the bad. And no matter how much things were improving in their lives, there was still plenty of bad to think about. One particular thought kept coming to Satoshi every night.

Shinozaki would be out of the hospital very soon, and after that what happened was anyone's guess. She just couldn't resist looking into what had happened, but as her friends they were going to stick by her anyway. They were literally going to be looking into a whole new world, full of unknowns and probably some very terrible things. It'd only be the four of them (He'd sworn to himself he'd keep Yuka out of anything dangerous) to deal with whatever happened.

Hopefully it would all turn out for the best. That one positive thought occupied his mind for a good while after he lay down. He kept thinking it, as if doing so would guarantee it.

A sound from Yuka's room made Satoshi freeze for a moment- fearful of the dark. But he relaxed after a moment. It was probably just one of the girls getting up to use the bathroom. Sure enough he heard footsteps and thought nothing more of it. He rested his head again and tried to sleep.

But the footsteps didn't continue out the room and down the hall- they came to a stop right beside his bed. He could sense a presence right behind him, even hear them breathing. His heart hammered in his chest and wondered if he dared look.

His bed creaked and shifted as some weight came down on it, sinking for a moment before coming back up as whatever it was evened itself out over the surface. Satoshi became aware of a source of heat right behind him and realized someone else had just climbed into his bed. He relaxed a little. This wasn't so unfamiliar; Yuka had had the habit for a long time growing up, and even renewed it after they got back from Heavenly Host. But it wasn't Yuka this time. Going by…'something' pressing into his back and making blood go to his face, there was only one possibility.

"…Naomi?" He asked.


	2. Chapter 2

"Naomi?" He asked quietly, his pulse quickening as a natural reaction.

"Hmm?" It was definitely her voice, sounding tired. Was she sleep walking?

"Uh…why did you just get in my bed?" He expected to get an embarrassed reaction from her, that she didn't know what she'd just done and quickly jump back up. Instead he just got…silence. After a full minute of it, he rolled over under the blanket, putting a little distance between them.

Even in the darkness, it wasn't hard to see Naomi. She was lying on the covers on her side, head supported by her left arm. Her face was only inches from Satoshi's, making him blush a little deeper. Her eyes were closed, her chest gently rising and falling. Despite the cold, she seemed to be contently asleep.

She looked so beautiful and peaceful too… Satoshi really didn't want to disturb her. But at the same time, he had too. Their parents would throw a fit at this, he just knew. Besides, Naomi might get a cold sleeping like that.

"Naomi?" He whispered, sitting up and slipping an arm out from under the covers to lightly shake her shoulder. "Naomi." She must've been a light sleeper, because that light movement was enough to make her eyes open.

"Hmm?" Her response was the same as the first time, staring up at him a little unfocused.

"What are you doing?" He asked again.

"Trying to sleep." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and her eyes slid closed again.

"Uhh…"

"Shut up." Naomi reached up to grab the front of his pajama shirt and pull him back down before scooting closer, resting her head on his pillow. Satoshi laid there stiffly for a moment in shock, his heart beating so loud in his chest that he wouldn't be surprised in Naomi could hear it. Naomi, who was lying right beside him, arm draped over him, hair and breath brushing again the side of the neck, her whole body pressed against him tightly enough that even through the covers he could feel her curves. "Idiot." She added.

"N-Naomi!" If he was surprised before, he was bewildered now, not to mention extremely flustered. It was the closest they'd ever been. Or the closest they'd ever been under normal circumstances, anyway. "What are you doing?!" Bewilderment and being flustered led to panic in the boy's mind, and that led to a bit of flailing movement as he tried to get up. Almost immediately the arm Naomi had draped over him tried to keep him down.

"Stop!" Satoshi froze, not only from the panic in Naomi's voice but the volume she'd shouted. Had anyone heard? Since he didn't hear any noise from Yuka's room, he guessed not; his sister was a light sleeper. "Just…let me have this." Her voice was more composed and hinted with a bit of embarrassment.

"Have what?" Satoshi asked, embarrassment swept from his mind and seriously looking at her now. There'd been clear distress in her voice then, which could only mean it was somehow connected to 'that place'. And there were no limits when it came to helping her get past that. "What do you want?"

"Just…" For her brashness earlier, she was clearly embarrassed now, a blush visible in darkness. Even if she had a reason, she was genuinely ashamed of the way she acted since what happened. "When you all slept over at my house on my birthday…That was the first time I've had a good night's sleep since we came back."

"…Nightmares, huh?" Satoshi realized. He did sometimes feel guilt for the fact he'd gotten off easier than some of his friends. Sure, he'd had some night terrors, but now they were only an occasional occurrence. Yuka still got them at least thrice a week, and Naomi…he couldn't imagine how bad it was for her.

"Mhmm." She admitted. "No matter how much better things are getting," She reached out and grabbed Satoshi's hand that had come out from under the blanket during his brief flailing. "It's still hard during the night…except for that one time."

"I guess that's why you suggested this sleepover…" It suddenly made complete sense.

"Yeah." She confirmed. "You said you'd be there if I needed you."

"I-I did." Satoshi admitted, although a situation like this had been far from his mind when he said it. "But uh…did you have to climb in my bed for that?" The situation cleared, he was coming back around to that fact. If it helped her, of course he'd agree to a sleepover.

But this… Well, they really had only been together for just over a week. Should they doing stuff like this so early? Obviously they weren't going to do anything they shouldn't and it was completely for a good reason, but that doubt persisted in his mind.

"…No." She admitted. "But I want to."

"Oh." That was the only response Satoshi could come up with. He never would've expected something like this from her. "Well…Uh…." He was aware Naomi was watching him. What did he say now? "Ah…Umm…"

Well, so long as sleep was ALL she wanted to do… What was the harm? Actually, it for the better anyway. Their parents might fret…but they'd given them a pretty loose leash so far. Taking advantage of it once wouldn't be the end of the world. Besides, and Satoshi felt kind of ashamed to admit it, the idea did sound pleasant.

"O…kay." Just saying it made his face flush with heat. "But..uh…you might…be warmer under t-the covers." If he'd looked in a mirror, he wouldn't be able to comprehend how red saying that had made his face.

Naomi smiled in the darkness and squeezed his hand. "Thanks..." Then, unexpectedly, she leaned forward and kissed him. Just a small peck on the lips before pulling back and getting up. Satoshi recovered after a moment and held up the covers so she could slide in next to him.

Without the cover between them, Naomi slid as close in as close as possible. Satoshi scooted a little close to the wall to give her a little extra space. She more or less went right back to where she'd been before: pressed against him with her head resting on the pillow and her right arm laid across him. The lack of a cover let their feet become entwined at the end of the bed. It also probably accounted for the sudden increase in temperature in Satoshi's face. Naomi was beautiful, after all.

Naomi noticed and actually smirked when Satoshi consciously moved his waist back, something he didn't fail to notice from how close their faces were now. The fact she knew threatened to make his mind shut down. But she didn't comment on it, instead just closing her eyes and sighing in contentment.

"This is so nice."

"Yeah…but you know you can just ask next time." Satoshi commented, trying to regain some of his dignity.

"Hmm." She laughed a little. "I know. I just wanted to see how much of an idiot you'd act like." Satoshi just groaned in response, which got another little laugh. A couple of moments of pleasant silent warmth passed by and Satoshi felt like he would start drifting off before Naomi started speaking again.

"Seiko and me had our first sleepover the night before the Festival." She informed him. "We'd planned it for weeks."

"You two did?" Satoshi asked, opening his eyes to watch her.

"Yeah…" Naomi sighed remorsefully, opening her eyes but seemingly staring beyond Satoshi. "That was the last night we ever spent together. We laid in bed together…talked about how we'd always be friends and there for each other…"

"…" Satoshi didn't know what to say to that, so he just reached around and after a moment of hesitation gently rubbed her back.

"I guess another reason I wanted to do this was remind me how it felt spending time with someone I cared about. Everything that happened recently is blurred together, but I don't want to ever forget those memories."

"Hmm." Satoshi acknowledged.

"Do you think I'm wrong for that?" Her eyes came back into focus to lock onto his. "For doing this to remind me of Seiko?"

"No." Satoshi took his hand off her back so he could use it to brush her cheek. "It doesn't matter how we remember them as long as we never forget. "I bet Shinohara wouldn't mind this."

"If she knew about this, she'd never let me live it down." Though her lips were curved upwards at the remark, there was still sadness in her eyes. "But she'd be happy for me…that's what matters."

"Yeah." Satoshi agreed. Naomi closed her eyes for a few moments while Satoshi continued brushing her cheek, taking comfort in the gesture for a few moments before clearing something up.

"You're not a replacement. You know that, right? I fell for you first. I did this because I wanted to spend more time with you too."

"I know." Satoshi assured her. The thought had never crossed his mind. Naomi had admitted she'd probably had feelings for Seiko, and Satoshi didn't mind that. Shinohara had been a nice and important person to Naomi. And there were just ways the two were connected that could never be replaced.

But she liked him too for her own reasons. And even if Satoshi couldn't replace Shinohara, he'd do everything he could for Naomi. He cared for her enough to do that. She deserved that much. "You want to remember better times. I understand completely."

Naomi smiled at him and opened her eyes again so she could lean forward to give him another quick peck on the lips. "I'm so glad that I didn't lose you in that place. I don't know what I would've done."

"Me too." After realizing he loved her, knowing she was distant from them was painful enough. Satoshi had no idea how he would've coped if he only realized it after she was gone. But she wasn't. "We got to hold on to what we do have left."

"And we're not going to lose anyone else, right?" She asked him seriously, referring to the dangers ahead. "You're going to make sure we don't lose anyone again?" He smiled and brushed her cheek again.

"I promise. We not losing anyone else, especially our friends. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure of that." The beautiful smile she made when he said that was contagious, and for a moment to two just lay there under the blankets, smiling at each other and enjoying the warmth, comfort, security, and understanding.

A few moments later the two were snuggled closer together under the cover, arms wrapped around each other and foreheads resting against each other. "And you know what else?" Satoshi murmured as the warmth did its best to drag them into sleep. "I'll do whatever makes you happy too."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

XX A/N XX

Well, this is as risqué as I've ever gotten. But let's not insult the game by pretending it's family friendly. I think though I'll save all the heavy ammo for the actual sequel, which should come after my other fic 'A Different Tale' finishes. This was just a bit of disconnected fluff. It'll happen people, of that I swear.

…Expect another two shot between this and that, though. It'll be something…different, comparative to most of the rest of the category.


End file.
